Women's Hoops Guru

(Guru's note: A print version is at Philly.com and more updates to come in this space later, if possible.)

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ Temple will have its own highlight Tuesday during the city'annual Welcome America Week celebration leading into the Fourth of July holiday.

The Owls are set to introduce Tony Cardoza as Temple's new women's basketball coach at an introductory press conference at the Liacouras Center, an athletic department official said early Sunday night.

The contract was not yet signed but the Owls were preparing to send invitations to the event Monday. The 39-year Cardoza will be in the same room in the Liacouras Center where eight years ago she watched her longtime friend and former Virginia teammate Dawn Staley join the coaching profession.

Staley has been gone almost two months, leaving May 7 for the head coaching job at South Carolina, which increased her annual Temple deal of last season by $150,000 to a package of $650,000 at the Southeastern Conference school.

Cardoza, a native of Roxbury, Mass., has been with the Huskies for 14 seasons and her extraction from UConn by Temple breaks up an 11-year run of stability on Geno Auriemma's coaching staff that began with the hire of former Huskies star Jamelle Elliott.

Auriemma almost had two vacancies to fill. Elliott was a finalist for both the Northwestern and George Washington jobs. Father Judge graduate Joe McKeown factored in both, leaving GW for the Midwest. The Colonials position was officially filled last Monday with the promotion of assistant Mike Bozeman.

Cardoza will take over Staley's office on the ground floor of the Liacouras Center at the start of the summer recruiting season.

After having met the team, Cardoza will begin going through a pile of resumes that have already been sent to the Temple athletic office from candidates seeking to join her staff since word of her as the Owls' choice emerged last week.

She will have to build a new staff in the wake of Staley's exit. Lisa Boyer and Cynthia Jordan will join Staley in Columbia, while Fred Schmiel is heading to San Diego State as an assistant. Mary Wooley, director of basketball operations. was scheduled to depart this summer priot to Staley's departure to continue her post-graduate education.

Temple began its search for Staley's successor with a long list of candidates from applications as well as some other individuals the Owls had interest.

However, the only known persons to have been given formal interviews were Cardoza and Wake Forest associate head coach Natasha Adair. Former La Salle coach John Miller, who coached Mount St. Joseph's to a state high school girls title, had informal talks with athletic director Bill Bradshaw and associate athletic director Kristen Foley, but he did not expect to be under serious consideration unless the search ran into difficulty.

Candidates from the WNBA were unattainable because of the start of the season, which will extend at least deep into September because of a break for the summer Olympics.

Cardoza has worked with the guards at UConn., helping to develop the game of such all-time greats as WNBA all-stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi.

Much more to come.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ As of midnight Saturday, barring an unknown phone call or alternative email network routing to the Guru's blackberry, which was inadervently left at home after making a battery switch before heading to the office, all remained publicly and privately quiet on the wait for the expectant news that Tonya Cardoza is succeeding her longtime friend Dawn Staley as Temple's new women's basketball coach.

The Guru's last possession of the electronic/cell-phone device was at 6 p.m. A call was left for a few sources, including several in Connecticut, who know both of the Guru's cell phone numbers and could also contact several other sources who would only be dialing the blackberry.

Cardoza, a 14-year assistant to Geno Auriemma and former Virginia star, might already been in town for a quickly-called press conference on the eve of the summer recruiting season, which begins Tuesday.

Staley, who left Temple last month for a similar job at South Carolina, was known to be in town Friday night, so it is possible she might be showing Cardoza, a native of Roxbury, Mass., the shortest distance to a good cheesesteak joint as well as several upscale eating establishments to host recruits and other guests.

No snags in the negotiations are known to exist, but when one has to include every detail including giving the Guru access to park in the underground garage of the Liacouras Center to visit, it's just another detail to sign off.

When the shift ends and the Guru returns home, if any communication signals a deal, it will quickly appear on the blog. But the laptop is in hand for quick posting from remote locations and stories already exist, awaiting a few minor edits, once the news of a deal arrives.

Much more to come, and, soon, the Guru hopes.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - As of most of the overnight from Friday into Saturday, word of a deal between longtime Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza and Temple to make her the Owls' 23rd women's basketball head coach had yet to become reality -- unless someone in the process was smart enough to think that holding the news until the Sunday paper would reach more readers.

But that is not what the headline above is about.

However, if Cardoza would like to have a former Temple star with a WNBA background on her staff, one just became available.

Prior to Friday night's Connecticut-Atlanta game between the host Sun and the winless Atlanta Nightmare, er, Dream, the Sun announced that second-year pro guard Kamesha Hairston, the 12th overall pick of the 2007 WNBA draft in the first round had been waived.

Hairston, who had been out with an injury since the start of the season, followed in the footsteps of the Chicago Sky's Candice Dupree in 2007 as the Atlantic Ten and Big Five player of the year for Temple prior to her selection by the Sun.

“Kamesha was caught in a numbers game,” Connecticut head coach Mike Thibault said in a statement. “Unfortunately for her, once she got hurt, other players played well in games with her out and solidified their places in the rotation. With Erin Phillips coming back after the Olympic Break, Kamesha would have a tough time getting playing time.”

Hairston's statistics for her first season show the native of Toledo averaged 1.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 17 games for the Sun. Her best game as a pro came on May 31, 2007, when she scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting in 29 minutes.

She started the season on the bench dressed in civilian clothes after undergoing surgery for a torn right lateral meniscus during the preseason.

Hairston's former Temple coach Dawn Staley, who is now at South Carolina, and Thibault are both assistants under Anne Donovan on the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Beijing, China.

If Cardoza is already in town, sources at the Amtrak station at 30th Street, the International Airport, the 12th street bus terminal, the Tacony-Palmyra, Betsy Ross, and Ben Franklin Bridge approaches, as well as the Interstate 95 and U.S. 1 northern gateways to the city limits have yet to indicate the arrival of the former Virginia star, who has spent 14 seasons holding a laptop on Geno Auriemma's bench tracking the game for the Huskies.

Actually, laptops were probably quite different if they existed at all when the 39-year-old native of Roxbury, Mass., first returned to the New England area.

Staley, however, was in town Friday night, perhaps to add a landlord title to her longtime relationship with Cardoza as former teammates on the Cavaliers.

Prior to South Carolina's approach to Staley, she had just purchases a house in the Art Museum area in the Fairmount area of the city near Temple and the Guru's home office.

Previously, Staley had lived a block away from Guru central, a convenient location near the late-night Chinatown restaurant district that the Guru introduced Villanova coach Harry Perretta to a year ago. The veteran Wildcats mentor only crosses the city limits to play against other Big Five schools or attend professional sporting events, although there is an occasional visit to Drexel in West Philadelphia to watch his former star Denise Dillon coach the Dragons.

He will also watch his players in the Department of Recreation's NCAA Women's Summer League compete in the Northeast section of the city.

Incidentally, a report Friday out of the league informed the Guru that new sports department colleague and former Colorado star Kate Fagan is making an impact, even though the native of upstate New York recently told the Guru her game was rusty.

"You can't stop her, you can only hope to contain her," a source told the Guru of Fagan's play in the first three games of the summer season.

By the way, while most young writers like seeing their byline in the paper, Fagan recently told the Guru she liked seeing her name in the blog.

So does the Guru because of the google action Fagan's name attracts from different locals across the nation.

Also, the Guru forgot to send Fagan regards from former Colorado Chill teammate Jamie Carey, who spoke to the Guru Tuesday night at the Sun's game against the Detroit Shock at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Meanwhile, the prolonged wait for at least an official confirmation of temporarily unofficial news that Temple has a new coach has the Owls competing with a major rival for headlines for the second time this week.

Word of Cardoza as Temple's choice to succeed Staley emerged only hours after Atlantic Ten foe George Washington held a press conference in the nation's capital to announce the promotion of former assistant Mike Bozeman to succeed new Northwestern coach Joe McKeown in a similar capacity with the Colonials.

As the Guru took the first of three straight nights of desk work in the office waiting for the Temple word, the family of St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin is awaiting the news of the arrival her third child due this weekend.

The Owls and the Hawks compete in both the Big Five and Atlantic Ten in at least two games a piece during the season.

So now that the Guru kept you entertained again during the Temple watch, it's time to beat sunrise home.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - Contrary to reports from the Guru's friends up north, as previously noted, Friday won't be the day for the introductory press conference for new Temple coach-apparent Tonya Cardoza.

"They're still working at it," a source familiar with the negotiations between the longtime Connecticut assistant's side and the Owls' side said Thursday night.

For those who are wondering what is taking so long, Cardoza and her boss Geno Auriemma share more than five NCAA titles and a slew of Big East titles in the 14 seasons the former Virginia star has been a member of Auriemma's staff.

They also share the same attorney, who was busy most of the week wrapping up details of Auriemma's lucrative contract extension, which was announced Wednesday.

Temple officials are hesitant to say anything for the record until the deal is done because snags along the way are not uncommon. But whatever the particulars, be assured, Cardoza's agreement won't consist of the million dollar plus number tied to Auriemma, nor will it be anywhere quite near the $500,000 Temple's former coach Dawn Staley received in the first of a six-year extension last season before departing last month for South Carolina.

But as the search got under way, Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw indicated that if an assistant with no prior head coaching expderience were hired, the individual would still get a "fair contract," even if the salary was no longer among the top ten women's deals in Division I.

That said, when the deal becomes official, look for a quick announcement on the parent pages of Philly.com as well as right in the Guru's blog,

At that moment, Cardoza, who is a longtime friend as well as former teammate of Staley at Virginia, will become a rarity in the formal Big Five history of women's coaches, beginning with the start of City Series competition in 1979-80.

She will be only the second hire among the five schools to come directly from out of town with no Philadelphia ties. The other was also a Temple coach, Charlene Curtis, who arrived from Radford.

However, a source discussing the pace of the negotations Thursday night noted, "Actually, even those two deserve a souvenir cheesesteak because they both are associated with Auriemma."

The Hall of Fame coach grew up in nearby Norristown arrive he arrived from Italy.

Curtis once worked with Auriemma on Debbie Ryan's staff at Virginia.

"Hey, wait a minute! I'm actually the big deal in that discussion," joked Ryan, who promised to talk more about Cardoza once the hire becomes official.

"The three of them actually are all tied to me," said Ryan, who became a Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in Knoxville, Tenn., two weeks ago.

Coincidentally, Ryan's birthplace is not far from the city of soft pretzels just outside of Trenton, N.J.

And Philadelphia does have a special place in Cardoza's heart because in 2000 the Huskies won their second national title, beating Tennessee (remember that rivalry?) at the Wachovia Center.

But as for the Big Five women's coaching history, here it is school-by-school.

Villanova -- Harry Perretta has been around the entire time and beyond, recently completing his 30th season on the Main Line.

Penn -- Pat Knapp came from Georgetown but is a child of the Catholic League.
Kelly Greenberg, a former La Salle star, arrived off Bill Gibbons' staff at Holy Cross.
Julie Soriero had been the coach of Philadelphia U.
Marianne Stanley came from Old Dominion but was a former Immaculata star
Lois Ashley was from South Jersey.

La Salle -- Tom Lochner is from upstate New York but had been with John Miller for nearly
two decades on the Explorers staff.
Miller was a local boys coach in the Catholic League at Archbishop Ryan.
Speedy Morris had been a legendary boys coach at Roman High
Kevin Gallagher, the Guru believes, came from Rider and was local.

St. Joseph's -- (oops, this is in reverse back-to-front order)
Ellen Ryan (pre-Big Five) was local
Theresa Grentz (pre-Big Five) was a former Immaculata star.
Rene Portland (pre-Big Five) was a former Immaculata star
Jim Foster, a Temple graduate, came from coaching Bishop McDevitt girls.
Stephanie V. Gaitley came from Richmond, but starred at Villanova and is a
native of the South Jersey shore.
Cindy Griffin came from Loyola, Md., but is a former Hawks star.

Temple -- *Tonya Cardoza, a native of Roxbury, Mass., is coming from Connecticut, a 14-year
assistant who starred in the early '90s at Virginia.
Dawn Staley, with no prior coaching experience, was a high school star at
Dobbins Tech, who also played at Virginia with Cardoza and was an
Olympic gold medalist, as well as All-Star in the WNBA and former ABL.
Kristen Foley, native of Peabody, Mass., came from coaching Drexel and
starred at Rutgers.
Charlene Curtis came as a head coach from Radford (Va.) and had no local
ties.
Linda Hill-MacDonald came from Delaware County, coaching Ridley High.
Andy McGovern was local.
*-Pending hire.

More Commentary On the "Jump" Page. Click Here

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - With the news of longtime Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza about to be named the next Temple women's basketball coach, athletic officials have begun receiving a flow of emails from persons interested in joining the former Virginia star's staff, which will consist of three assistants and a basketball operations person.

Aimee Cicero, a spokeswoman for the Owls, is already contemplating the major changes in next season's media guide, which will be at the start of a new era in the wake of former coach Dawn Staley's move to South Carolina.

Atlantic Ten women's basketball spokeswoman AnnMarie Person is eagerly awaiting a reunion with Cardoza. The two were previously together when Person worked as the spokeswoman for the Huskies' national power.

However, as of Thursday, signatures remained to be completed on the dotted lines.

But there was no doubt that the former teammate and longtime friend of Staley was holding an offer as both sides negotiated the finishing touches to complete the paperwork that would make Cardoza the new coach.

"It's still going to be a few days," a Temple source knowedgeable with the hiring process said, while another said Cardoza's introductory press conference might not be held until Monday at the earliest.

The Connecticut media contingent, busy with the announcement of coach Geno Auriemma's lucrative contract extension, were all reporting the press conference would be Friday, but that might be coming from the Huskies' end of coverage.

In any event, once the ink is on the deal and the handshakes are made, the marquee in front of the Liacouras Center on North Broad Street is ready to flash the news that the Cardoza era with the Owls has arrived.

While some in the athletic world associated with Cardoza, such Virginia coach Debbie Ryan and Staley, were holding off comment until they got the official word that a deal was struck, former UConn stars gushed with reaction at the news of Cardoza's move to Temple.

"Oh Wow! Is it going to happen -- at Temple?" the Connecticut Sun's Tamika Raymond asked with a big smile in the dressing room Tuesday night before the WNBA game against the Detroit Shock at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

"Tonya was kind of the lite sense of humor on the staff," Raymond, herself a collegiate assistant coach in the offseason, recalled. "She didn't take things too seriously. She didn't take things too toughly or too easily. She dealt mostly with the guards.

"I think she's a great coach. If you look at the guards that she had her hands on, she worked with some of the best guards that's ever played the game," Raymond said in reference to such WNBA stars as Seattle's Sue Bird and Phoenix's Diana Taurasi.

"How long has Tonya been there? -- 14 years. Every (five NCAA) championship, she's coached in. All the players she's coached pretty much looked to her. She runs all the drills. When they want to come back, they want Tonya in the gym to help them with their game," Raymond continued.

"You're not at a program like that for 14 years and you don't learn anything. She's been through it all."

Asjha Jones, as a post player, didn't work as much with Cardoza, but was still glad to hear the news.

"She deserves it!" Jones said of the career move. "(UConn assistant) Jamelle (Elliott) deserves a head coaching job, too. Those two have been working real hard for a long time."

Barbara Turner, who was traded to the Sun in the offseason, also welcomed the pending announcement of Cardoza.

"What was it like to play for Tonya?" Turner said. "It was great. Tonya was the happy medium in our coaching staff. She was the one that was always calm in the most tense situations. It was easy to play for her.

"I didn't work with her a lot because she was with the guards. But she was that one coach you could always go to where you would get a calm answer from," Turner added.

"The fact that Tonya always had the most players in her office had nothing to do with the other coaches. It's just everyone liked talking to Tonya. She just attracted people because of her sweet, laid-back, personality. Everybody liked being around her."

-- Mel

(Guru's precede: The drama involving women's coaching changes at two top Atlantic Ten powers has on recent occasion seen the Guru actually compete against himself fulfilling the requirements dictated by print considerations against the immediacy of the internet and this blog site.

At this hour, however, the Guru is unsure what survived the cutting room floor after the basic straight-from-the-top breaking report. So, to avoid potential duplication in the two locations, the Guru offers an enhanced behind-the-scenes story of the Guru's day into night and as the saying goes in football and NCAA pools, the following is for entertainment purposes only.)

By Mel Greenberg

UNCASVILLE, Conn. - About an hour prior to the hotly-contested WNBA Eastern superpower battle between the host Connecticut Sun and Detroit Shock Tuesday night, former UConn star Kara Wolters came rushing into the media room of the Mohegan Sun Arena on a quick call-to-duty to replace former teammate Rebecca Lobo on the evening's telecast.

In a parellel email observation, the Guru has already been asked how come the Mohegan Sun management did not request him to serve as a quick replacement for any of the magic acts, if necessary, at the casino-entertainment complex after his Tuesday night's performance.

Because the Guru has been jokingly accused by some scribes here of running a job shop through his blog in recent weeks involving several positions, including the appointment of a new Atlantic Ten commissioner, some wondered early this morning how the Guru was able to be planted right in the middle of many notable media members of the famed horde Tuesday night on press row, yet managed to make a longtime Connecticut assistant disappear and prepare to emerge as Temple's new women's basketball coach.

That would be one Tonya Cardoza, a former Virginia star and teammate of Dawn Staley, who is expected before the sun sets Wednesday to be offered and accept the vacant Owls position that occured when Staley departed for a similar job at South Carolina on May 7.

Some claim the Guru was merely trying to help his alma mater limit Atlantic Ten rival George Washington to only two days of Guru blog fame this week by eclipsing the formal appointment and promotion of assistant Mike Bozeman, which was done hours earlier at a press conference in the nation's capital.

The Guru even managed to extract comments from former UConn types in the arena who had experience playing under Cardoza while everyone else in the dresssing room was focused on the Sun's impressive win over the Shock.

Those remarks will appear as part of coverage of the Cardoza impending news the next several days.

Hours earlier as the Guru began the trip to here with his niece Neena, who had never been tio the complex, the Guru learned of the death of his 95-year-old aunt Selda Lavine, the Guru's late mom's sister who passed away Tuesday morning peacefully in Trenton, N.J., after a long and fruitful life.

When the Guru learned late Tuesday night that the funeral won't be held until Friday, Neena, who served with her sister Allison last year as escorts for the Guru's induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, remarked that people are going to think the Guru set it up so the press conference and funeral don't conflict.

Speaking of Allison, the Guru has neglected to mention that on the recent first anniversary of the Guru's induction, coincidentally she became engaged to Aaron Greenfield.

But to return to our narrative, as the Guru neared his arrival to casino-land, a phone call from a source said that Cardoza had emerged as the winner, although it was unknown if the 39-year-old native of Roxbury, Mass., actually was holding an offer or got the offer and tentatively agreed.

Incidentally, as Cardoza takes her new job on the eve of the summer reruiting season, she will have to build a completely new staff in the wake of Staley's exit. Lisa Boyer and Cynthia Jordan will be with Staley at South Carolina, Fred Schmiel is heading to San Diego State as an assistant, and Mary Wooley had been scheduled prior to Staley's exit to leave next month and continue to pursue her post-graduate education.

Meanwhile, as the Guru chased the story, he heard in the wind that Temple's president had wondered how he got the material for Tuesday's print story.

The Guru would respond by saying to blame it on the Owls' school of journalism which years ago taught the Guru tricks to get answers to questions that would not give up anything but in their nature provide the clues needed to move forward.

For example, in the last 24 hours the Guru put such questions out to sources as, "Is there any chance that if the Guru was near downtown later this week he might run into Cardoza?"

Or, "Is the Guru right in noticing a trend that to be a women's coach of the Owls, it's helpful to have time spent at the University of Virginia." Actually, one could also say that about the current football coach.

As the early evening wore on, continuing with the nightmarkes of technology in the home office, the system apparently had been crashing all afternoon, making it impossible for the Guru to file in the regular procedure over the internet.

An email copy never made it through, either, although by the time the Guru learned of the failure, the regular route had been fixed and the Guru did a little re-tooling that all involved felt offered comfort to protect the process and move ahead of the story.

So stay tuned with much more to come after the Guru returns home Wednesday.

Rutgers Assistant Search

OK, you Scarlet Knights fans, don't click that keyboard, yet. The Guru has seen you all take the bait on his guessing game as to one of the candidates to replace Marianne Stanley, who is now an assistant with the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

But understand, that person of Guru-injected mystery is not the only candidate and several people have mentioned recently that a male might be a good fit for the staff. One such person with a WNBA background has been contacted in the Midwest. Another name inquired of the Guru has been an assistant at several schools and has been given credit for having recruited one hidden gem who quickly became a WNBA All-Star after graduation.

As to the Guru's original person of mystery, she does not pre-date the Coyle era. Some people have guessed the right school, the right era, but the wrong teammate, although that person almost fits the profile.

There could be announcement as early Wednesday, according to some WNBA persons here, but that job of actually naming someone in this exercise belongs to coach C. Vivian Stringer and the Rutgers sports information office.

And before some say that the Guru hasn't operated that way in reporting the George Washington or Temple situations, he would respond, that in those situations he did the investigating because of the nature of the topic and the women's beat.

The Rutgers information came because of decades-long friendships and, as such, the Guru did not want to affect the confidentially of the conversation unless individuals involved wanted the information in public.

On the other hand, the surprising vast number of views coming to the site from the Rutgers crowd in the last several seasons made the Guru decide to offer a summer gift of sorts to give you all something to do on days your former superstars are not busy impacting the WNBA or to kill time before your next superstar class arrives.

-- Mel

(Updating with newer details early Sunday evening)

By Mel Greenberg

A Monday meeting with the university president appears to be the last hurdle for George Washington assistant Mike Bozeman to vault into a promotion as the Colonials' new women's basketball coach, several sources familiar with the search said Sunday.

Bozeman was said to be already setting up interviews with prospective candidates for his staff once the announcement becomes official.

Athletic director Jack Kavancz said late last week the successor to Joe McKeown would be known by Monday afternoon.

McKeown, a Father Judge graduate who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, left earlier this month after 19 seasons for a similar job at Northwestern, which had been at the bottom of the Big Ten conference.

The Colonials have been a perennial Atlantic Ten contender who were nationally ranked the last two seasons.

Connecticut assistant Jamelle Elliott, who grew up in Washington as did Bozeman, and Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano of South Jersey, who is a former GW star and assistant, also were interviewed along with Bozeman last week.

Neither were available for comment early Sunday night but sources indicated both had yet to receives call from GW telling them whether or not they had been hired.

Mike Flynn, who shares one source in the GW search with the Guru, first learned of Bozeman's apparent hire late Saturday night while in France with an AAU contingent and posted the information to his Blue Star site while the Guru was finishing out his desk duties in the home office.

In hiring Bozeman, who turns 42 in November, George Washington appears to be using Temple University founder Russell H. Conwell's Acres of Diamonds speech.

Ironically, according to some quick internet research, the move would fall in line with the central theme of Conwell's speech, which is part of the introductory package to Temple newcomers.

Conwell noted that one need not search far for advancement or riches because the resources can be found in one's backyard.

Whether that is precisely true in the instance of GW's hire, if the report of the decision is accurate, can only be answered by time.

Bozeman, the younger brother of Morgan State men's coach Todd Bozeman, and his wife Wendy, already have their own starting five women's team in daughter Nikki, Dominique, Mikell, Taylor, and Sydnee.

A graduate of Fairleigh Dickson, who played on the 1988 Knights contingent that went to the NCAA tournament, he has been with the Colonials for three seasons.

From 1999-2005, Bozeman was the head girls' basketball coach at Bishop McNamara in nearby Forestville, Md., posting a 151-35 record in six seasons.

He recently completed his first year as the president of the Center for Academic and Sports Excellence (CASE), emphasizing the academic tradition Colonial stars, such as the recently graduated Sarah-Jo Lawrence, have fostered during McKeown's 19 seasons in the nation's capital.

Before reaching the serious stage in negotiations with Northwestern, McKeown was backing Bozeman for the vacancy at Temple following Dawn Staley's departure for South Carolina in early May.

Although the Owls have yet to offer the job to anyone, a high official in the Temple athletic department indicated Saturday night the school will be naming its new coach by the end of the week.

While it appears that Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma will be retaining Elliott on his staff after her being a finalist at George Washington and Northwestern, another aide -- former Virginia star Tonya Cardoza -- remains very much alive in the Temple picture.

Temple officials have been pleased that hopefuls have stayed interested in the women's position during what has become a protracted process, in part, because of annual spring meetings that took search committee members away from campus.

They remain confident that once they decide on their first choice, the offer will be quickly accepted.

Meanwhile, the Guru has noticed a bunch of curious folks drifting over from the Rutgers message board after he gave a few hints about a potential new hire on C. Vivian Stringer's staff in the previous post below.

Today's clue is the individual was a thorn in Rutgers' NCAA aspirations in the pre-Stringer era prior to 1995.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - As both Connecticut assistants Tonya Cardoza and Jamelle Elliott wait to hear whether or not either will be the choice of Temple or George Washington in filling head coaching vacancies, both find themselves perhaps going against home court advantages.

Both Cardoza, who has been interviewed by Temple, and Elliott, who has been interviewed by George Washington, have been said to have performed well in their respective appearances.

But each might be going against some home court advantage possessed by other candidates for the jobs left vancant when Dawn Staley left Temple last month for South Carolina and Joe McKeown left earlier this month for Northwestern.

Elliott does have some home claim to the George Washington job in that she is a native of the nation's capitol. But she has spent most of her UConn post-graduate life as an assistant to Geno Auriemma at her alma mater.

The other two candidates in the Colonials' search -- current assistant Mike Bozeman and Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano -- have more direct ties to the Atlantic Ten power.

Bozeman, by nature of his job, and South Jersey's Cermingnano, by virtue of her former collegiate career and previous assistant position at GW, are both perceived as in-house candidates.

"It's funny," Cermingano jested prior to being interviewed earlier this week. "People have said do I need them to make phone calls for me.

"Why? They'd all be calling each other. They all know me. The question is just a matter of whether GW want someone they already know or whether they want to go in a new direction."

George Washington athletic director Jack Kvance said on Thursday a decision would be known by Monday.

As of late Friday afternoon, it was not known if an offer had been made to any of the three candidates, according to a source familiar with the search. At least one candidate, who wished not to comment, had not heard either way of his or her status.

Cardoza, who is known to have interviewed at Temple as has Wake Forest associate head coach Natasha Adair, declined to comment after her visit.

But sources familiar with Cardoza's visit said she had interviewed well, while the former Virginia star and teammate of Staley was said to be impressed with Temple's campus.

However, in talking to former La Salle coach John Miller, who coached Mount St. Joseph's to a state high school title last season, Temple might still be thinking of trying to involve someone familiar with the Owls, who have also been an Atlantic Ten power along with Xavier.

The discussions with Miller were not of "official interview" status and he said he didn't expect Temple to come in his direction unless the search process ran into difficulty.

It could that some other discussions might be going on with any of a number of publicly unknown candidates with more local ties. Soon after Staley's departure, Temple was known to be interested in several persons, while others were seeking information on Temple, but contractual obligations might have dried up those inquiries.

Delaware's Tina Martin, for example, was mentioned early in the process as was Drexel's Denise Dillon, both head coaches of Colonial Athletic Association schools.

Atlhough the George Washington search has moved on a quicker pace, in part because the Colonials as a private school have less required job posting obligations, Temple officials are aware they must have someone in place by next weekend before the summer recruiting period begins.

Rutgers Hunt

In Knoxville, Tenn., at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction events last weekend, Rutgters coach C. Vivian Stringer noted the number of resumes she has been busy reading to fill the position left vacant when Marianne Stanley, a WBHOF, left last month to return to the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks as an assistant near where she has family ties.

One candidate from beyond the Mississippi, who doesn't want their name in public at this time, is said to be interested in the Scarlet Knights.

The Guru can say that if hired, that person's background as a Hall of Fame player, assistant coach and administrator, would provide an energetic excitment to the Rutgers fan base as well as the team.

Stringer might finalize her decision in the next week, also because of the need to have her staff at full level for the start of summer recruiting.

Sad News

Boise State senior women's administrator Lisa Parker, 44, a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee, died Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer.

"Her strength, faith and spirit carried her through so many challenges in the last months and from that, we all can draw strength," said the NCAA's Sue Donohoe, the vice president for Division I basketball.

Coaching Hires Not Noted Elsewhere

Two coaches were hired this past week and the Guru, who has been busy on the Temple and GW stories, would be remiss to not mentioning their change of jobs.

Long Island University, in filling the vacancy left when former Villanova star and St. Joseph's coach Stephanie V. Gaitley left the Blackbirds for the Monmouth job in the same Northeast Conference, named Georgia State assistant Gail Striegler to take charge of a program that set a school record for back-to-back wins.

She had previously been head coach of Central Florida for eight seasons, leading the Knights to three straight Atlantic Sun titles from 2003-05

"We are excited to have a head coach of Gail's caliber join LIU," athletic director John Suarez said. "She is a quality coach and proven winner, having claimed multiple conference championships and coach of the year awards. As a champion of student-athlete welfare her teams are also successful in the classroom and we look forward to her continuing the success of our women's basketball program."

Meanwhile in a local move involving Division III schools, Cabrini's Bobbi Morgan has taken the Haverford job after leading the Cavaliers to the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title last season. Her team was also involved in what was believed to be the first-ever Division III game in Madison Square Garden in New York.

Morgan previously was a longtime girls coach at Haverford High.

And on a personal note, back in 2004 when the Guru was dining one night at a Seattle restaurant after the Storm won the WNBA title over the Connecticut Sun, a couple struck up a conversation and it turned out they were cousins of Morgan, who had just moved to the collegiate level.

Speaking of Cabrini, this week, former Temple associate athletic director Joe Giunta became the Cavaliers' new AD.

Meanwhile, at Delaware, Chris Campbell, who served as an assistant coach at Marymount University the past three seasons, has been hired as the new women’s basketball assistant coach of the Hens under head coach Tina Martin.

The 1996 Duke graduate replaces Melissa Dymek, who left the staff in June after four seasons to take an assistant coach position at Akron University. He joins a Delaware staff that includes Martin, associate Head Coach Jeanine Radice, and assistant Coach Tiara Malcom.

Rookie Blood Energizing the WNBA

When the WNBA held its draft in April, the depth of talent beyond Tennessee's Candace Parker (1-L.A.), LSU's Sylvia Fowles (2-Chicago), and Stanford's Candice Wiggins (3-Minnesota) was projected to greatly boost the league across the board.

The league office offered evidence of such progress in an email to the media earlier this week with stats (and team progress) through June 18:

Candace Parker (Sparks) and Candice Wiggins (Lynx) are currently leading the way for the 2008 WNBA Draft class…Sylvia Fowles (Sky) was off to a strong start as well, but will miss a few weeks after suffering a sprained knee injury. Several other rookies have already made an immediate impact on their teams and on the WNBA, helping to prove that this was indeed the deepest draft in WNBA history.

Impact on Teams

Minnesota Lynx Rookies

Candice Wiggins (3rd overall pick), Nicky Anosike (16th out of Tennessee) and Charde Houston (30th out of UConn) combined to help the Lynx to a quick 5-0 start and now sit in second place in the West to begin the season….The three rookies are thriving under coach Don Zierden and team up with veterans Seimone Augustus, Nicole Ohlde and Anna DeForge. The rookies are bringing a winning attitude to the organization and all three rank among league leaders in several statistical categories.

Detroit Shock Rookies

Alexis Hornbuckle (Tenn.) and Tasha Humphrey (Georgia) have had no problem fitting in with the defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Shock, who currently sit in second place in the East at 8-3. Hornbuckle not only leads the entire WNBA in steals per game at 3.0, she also ranks among the top leaders in rebounds and free throw percentage. She even pulled down 15 rebounds on 6/14/08, the most by any guard in Shock franchise history. Humphrey, inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this past week, responded with 28 points vs. the Phoenix Mercury on 6/14/08. Humphrey would lead the WNBA in field goal percentage (69.2%) and rank second in three-point field goal percentage (62.5%) if she had enough minutes to qualify for the daily rankings.

Connecticut Sun Rookies

With six rookies on the roster, the Connecticut Sun has surprised everyone except themselves with the best start in franchise history and the best start in the WNBA. They currently sit in first place in the East at 9-2. Sandrine Gruda (France), Amber Holt (Middle Tenn.) and Jolene Anderson (Wisconsin) have played well for the Sun, and Kerri Gardin (Va. Tech), Ketia Swanier (UConn) and Danielle Page (Nebraska) have also seen minutes. Holt has started all 11 contests and averages 4.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Anderson has nearly identical numbers with 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Gruda posts 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds while also shooting well from the field at a .488 clip.

Other Rookies

Matee Ajavon (Rutgers) in Houston – 9.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.4 spg
Essence Carson (Rutgers) in New York – 7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 spg, 1.1 apg
Tamera Young (James Madison) in Atlanta – 7.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.2 apg

Ace vs. Ice

Candace Parker

Parker ranks among the top players in the league in nearly all categories: points (13th), rebounds (second), assists (sixth), steals (10th), blocks (fourth) and minutes (sixth). She also….
-- Nearly posted a triple-double in her pro debut on 5/17/08 vs. Phoenix. She had 34 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Her 34 points broke the record for a rookie in a debut game.
-- as named as the Hanns-G ‘Go Beyond’ Rookie of the Month for the month of May.
-- Tallied the WNBA’s first-ever 5x5 performance on 5/29/08. She had at least five in the following statistical categories: points (16), rebounds (16), blocks (6), assists (5), steals (5).
-- Recorded single game highs for the 2008 WNBA season during the Sparks double-overtime loss to Indiana on 5/29/08

-- Minutes -- 46, Parker, LA at IND, 5/29 (2 OT)
Def. Rebounds -- 14, Parker, LA at IND, 5/29 (2 OT)
Blocks -- 6, Parker, LA at IND, 5/29 (2 OT)

Candice Wiggins

Despite not even starting a game yet early on in her career, Wiggins in among league leaders in scoring (10th), assists (11th), field goal percentage (26th), three-point field goal percentage (24th), free throw-percentage (13th), steals (15th) and minutes (36th). In addition, she recorded 12 assists on 5/31 vs. Phoenix, which is an individual single-game high for WNBA in 2008.

League Leaders

Points - Wiggins (10th, 17.3 ppg) and Parker (13th, 16.7 ppg) are among top 15 league leaders in the scoring column.

Steals – Five rookies rank among the WNBA’s top 20 leaders in steals per game in 2008: Hornbuckle (3.00 spg) and Anosike (2.30 spg) top the category while Parker, Wiggins and Ajavon follow.

Blocks – Five rookies also rank among the WNBA’s top 15 leaders in blocks per game in 2008. LaToya Pringle (Mercury) is first with 4.33, followed closely by Fowles (3.00) and Parker (2.11). Anosike (1.50) and Laura Harper (Monarchs, 1.00) also make the list.

Inquirer Rookie Can't Shake Villanova

The Guru would like to say that the fact that new sports department hire Kate Fagan, a former Colorado star, is wearing No. 1 on her jersey in the Department of Recreation's NCAA Women's Summer League, which began play last Monday, has no correlation to his efforts to landing her a spot in the league draft prior to her arrival.

It was previously noted that her last collegiate game was a narrow loss, admittedly her toughest, to Villanova in the NCAA Sweet 16 in Knoxville, during the Wildcats legendary run to the Elite Eight in 2003.

A three-point ace, Fagan finds herself now teammates with two other Villanova perimenter markswomen in seniors Laura Kurz and Siobhan O'Connor. Additionally, Drexel senior center Brooke Cornish, also on the team, is the daughter of former Wildcats star Lisa Ortlip, a Big Five multi-player of the year in the earlier 1980s.

And while on the mention of Villanova, congrats to longtime Wildcats WBB spokesman Dean Kenefick and wife Stacey, who became parents for the first time on Friday the 13th of this month with the arrival of Hailey Christine, who has yet to be offered a scholarship by coach Harry Perretta.

Also, St. Joseph's coach Cindy Griffin said "the countdown has begun" for the birth of a third child to the former Hawks star and husband Curtis, expected on June 30th.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

George Washingtion University athletic director Jack Kvancz said Thursday that the next Colonials women's basketball coach will be known after the weekend.

The position has been vacant since earlier this month when Joe McKeown left the program to take a similar position at Northwestern.

The move forced McKeown to give up his assistant spot on the USA Basketball U18 national team. He will be replaced by Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, the organization said Thursday.

"We'll know late Monday," Kvancz while confirming that Connecticut assistant Jamelle Elliott, current Colonials assistant Mike Bozeman, and Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano have all been interviewed.

Elliott, a former Huskies star, has been an assistant to Geno Auriemma at her alma mater for the past 11 seasons. She was a finalist for the Northwestern position.

Cermingnano of South Jersey is a former George Washington star in the school's hall of fame and was previously an assistant at her alma mater and recruiting much of the roster that led the Colonials to back-to-back school record-breaking seasons.

Before talks got to the serious level with Northwestern, McKeown offered support for Bozeman for the Temple job.

"He knows the Mid-Atlantic area well to recruit," McKeown said.

"I guess we'll beat Temple," Kvancz quipped in reference to the current search to replace Dawn Staley, who left last month for South Carolina.

The Owls are expected to know their situation late next week, if not earlier.

Kvancz did not say whether an offer was made to any of the GW candidates, but noted, "they were all great (in the interviews).

"It's going to be a tough decision, but the good news is we know the person we are going to get is going to be a great choice."

-- Mel

(Will be updated later Tuesday)

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - Former La Salle women's coach John Miller has had some talks with both Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw and associate athletic director Kristen Foley regarding the Owls' vacancy since Dawn Staley left last month for South Carolina.

However, Miller characterized them more as fact finding in nature, saying that he didn't expect Temple to come his way unless the current search process ran into difficulty.

"First, I'm happy where I am right now," Miller said. "I just had my best year (coaching the Mount St. Joseph's girls team). The adminstration is great. The parents are great. The players are great. And we won a state title, so what could be better?

"Having said that, though, I have such respect for both Bill and Kristen, having known them over the years, that I'm always willing to listen to what they have to say. After all, Bill is the athletic director who hired me at La Salle. And, of course, I coached against Kristen in the Big Five.

"The impression I get is that Bill will let the committee do its work and will stay in the background until the members determine who are serious candidates. He doesn't want to bring me in just for the sake of the interview since they both pretty much know me, anyway."

Incidentally, Miller's daughter attends Pittsburgh and works two hours a week for Panthers women's coach Agnus Berenato, the sister of new Atlantic Ten commissioner Bernadette McGlade.

Speaking of the Panthers, former star Marcedes Walker, who played at University City and had signed a free agent contract with Houston, was released Monday by the WNBA's Comets.

Meanwhile, one source familiar with aspects of both the Temple and George Washington searches said that Connecticut assistant coach Tonya Cardoza has already visited the Owls' campus, while Huskies assistant Jamelle Elliott was expected to be in Washington Monday to visit with Colonials officials about the vacancy left when Joe McKeown took the Northwestern job several weeks ago.

Temple may have also had a visit from Wake Forest associate head coach Natasha Adair, who also spent six years as an assistant at Georgetown.

George Washington was also expected to interview former Colonials assistant and star player Lisa Cermingnano of South Jersey, who is currently an aide to Melanie Balcomb at Vanderbilt.

Current Colonials assistant Mike Bozeman was also expected to interview this week.

Both Atlantic Ten schools are approaching an invisible deadline of sorts in that they might want to get new coaches in place by the end of the month before the summer recruiting period begins.

If either school has interest in anyone in the WNBA, it could be difficult to pry them loose considering that the schedule is moving along and will pause at the end of the July for the Olympics.

When Staley took the Temple job in April of 2000, she spent most of the early months away playing in the WNBA and then the Olympics in Australia, which were held in September.

But she already had a staff in place to delegate duties during her absence. This time around, it would be tougher to cut a deal with someone on any of the 14 teams, allowing them to finish out, because the playoffs, as in 2004, will not begin until mid-September after the Olympics have concluded.

Incidentally, former Olympic and Georgia star Teresa Edwards, who is doing TV work these days, said in Knoxville over the weekend she has no interest in any college position.

"I couldn't do that recruiting stuff and all the stories you have to tell athletes to get them to come to play," Edwards smiled.

She is familiar with the Temple campus, however, having played for the Rage in the former American Basketball League at the Liacouras Center in the front part of the 1998-99 season before the league collapsed under bankruptcy. She later came out of retirement to play for newly-inducted Suzie McConnell-Serio at Minnesota and then was an assistant coach with the Lynx last season after McConnell-Serio had departed.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- OK. The Guru is no longer in Knoxville, but back in Philadelphia where the sun is coming up. But you were promised extended coverage of Saturday night's 10th-anniversary Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction night, so extended it will be, but with these following disclaimers.

What follows are l-o-o-n-g highlights from the ceremonies at the Bijou. Not everything was able to be transcribed and some remarks were inaudible.

The Guru woukl like to point out that for all the light-spirited abuse he took on length-of-acceptance speech a year ago when he was in the spotlight, each of these inductees far exceeded the Guru's time.

And to all friends, families, former players, adminstrators, assistant coaches, etc., associated with the 10th anniversary class, trust me, don't fret if you don't see your name here. You were all mentioned. This is just a quicker posting, but the Guru does have a request of Patty Broderick to send a list of all the referees called out for the purpose of correct spelling.

Those SID friends of the Guru at Virginia, Penn State, and other schools associated with the inductees, feel free to link here from your site, if you feel it worthy.

And, in the world of ongoing events, the Guru will return later Monday afternoon with some Temple and George Washington coach search updates.

So now, to avoid doing the jump twice, click here to get into the speeches, and the Guru will try to guide and hopefully clean up some of the transcription along the way. -- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Due to considerations for packing for a 7 a.m. direct flight to Philly and the fact the laptop did not go to the theatre because of the Guru's role as a most recent inductee at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies, Saturday night, a full accounting will be delayed until late Sunday afternoon or a few hours later following transcription of the acceptance speeches.

But while you are here, the Guru can report that Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, who was coming to support his former boss, Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, ran into an airplane traveling nightmare and did not arrive until after the ceremonies.

Thus, he was not in the same room as Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who was seated next to the Guru on her 56th birthday, during the event.

All the speeches were excellent. A snafu caused the video introduction of recently-retired Central Arizona coach Lin L. Laursen to repeat. When she reached the podium, she began her remarks by saying, "You will not hear this speech twice and proceeded to hunor everyone.''

Because of Patty Broderick's induction, there were enough referees to stage the entire NCAA tournament over the weekend. ESPN personalities Debbie Antonelli and Beth Mowins were the emcees and in turning to the moment for the longtime official, they noted "... and kept blowing her whistle until she got (a call) right.''

Geno and Pat may not have been in the same room, but Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, a past inductee and member of the board, were in the same room as two of three officials involved in the infamous clockgate controversy here when Tennessee won in February in the "extended" closing seconds.

Hint: Bonita Spence was not here.

Dawn Staley made it with her staff from South Carolina.

Debbie Ryan's uncle, former Virginia and Notre Dame athletic director Gene Corrigan, also a past Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner, was her escort.

Stringer and the Guru spent some time together have side discussions on staffing situations at her place as well as several other schools that have been in the news. But remember, the two were together as past inductees and not in their other known roles.

In terms of Connecticut, one assistant has been interviewed for a head coaching job, while the other will be interviewed next week. But remember, the Connecticut head coach and the Guru were here as past inductees.

A contingent of Penn State officials flew down here late Saturday for Suzie McConnell-Serio's induction. Her coach, former Nittany Lions mentor Rene Portland, was not here, but was mentioned in the acceptance speech.

Happy Fathers Day to those who are celebrating and the Guru will return later Sunday.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Suzie McConnell-Serio went from being the signature player in Penn State women’s basketball history as a 5-4 point guard and NCAA career assist leader to having a signature career well beyond her days in Happy Valley while building a sizeable family of her own along the way.

“When something like this happens it makes you look back at everything you’ve done,” she said here Friday afternoon on the eve of her induction to the 10th anniversary class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

“It’s really been an incredible ride for me – as a player at the high school level, in AAU, college, the Olympics, the WNBA, every experience I’ve had at every level has been incredible,” said McConnell-Serio, who just completed her first season as coach of Duquesne in her native Pittsburgh.

“And then as a coach at Oakland Catholic, at Minnesota (in the WNBA), and now at Duquesne, each aspect of my career has been special in its own way. It’s unbelievable when you look back and how much I loved it and to be honored for that is pretty amazing.”

Her oldest son Peter was born between her appearances in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics and then she retired to have three more children before resuming her stellar point guard role by becoming a member of the WNBA’s former Cleveland Rockers in 1998.

McConnell-Serio was named the WNBA newcomer of the year to differentiate from pure rookie status and then later earned a coach of the year award with the pro league’s Minnesota Lynx. She also coached Oakland Catholic to several Pennsylvania high school titles.

“If the WNBA had been around when I graduated college, I probably would not have had my four children when I did -- my son, at least, would not have been born in 1990, so I loved the way things happened and I would not ask for anything better.”

Late in the afternoon a busload carrying the McConnell family and other friends and associates arrived to celebrate McConnell-Serio’s big weekend.

She is being inducted along with veteran Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, referee Patty Broderick, former Australian star Michele Timms, who played in the WNBA and is now an assistant coach with the Chinese national team, recently retired Central Arizona coach Lin L. Laursen (970 wins), and Jill Rankin Schneider, who was an all-American at both Wayland Baptist in Texas and then at Tennessee after she transferred.

“I sent the hall keepsakes from both programs for the display cases,” Rankin Schneider said.

Ironically, McConnell-Serio’s sister, Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller, played for Ryan at Virginia and will do the video introduction of McConnell-Serio during Saturday night’s ceremonies at the Bijou Theatre.

ESPN personalities Debbie Antonelli and Beth Mowins are emceeing this weekend’s festivities and contrary to the Guru’s original assumption on the previous post, the duo actually did produce a pod cast Friday night from the Hall, which will appear with the others on WBCA.org.

After a buffet dinner at the WBHOF that included barbqcue chicken, brisket, and pulled pork, those associated with inductees were invited to tell whatever tale they wished about the honorees.

McConnell-Miller, being connected to three of the inductees, injected humor to the occasion.

“I’d like to thank Patty Broderick who was responsible for most of my losses this season,” she said.

Turning to Ryan and talking about a squad in which Dawn Staley and Tammy Reiss were her teammates, McConnell-Miller said, ``If you had played me more, I would be up here instead of her (McConnell-Miller).”

Mika Ryan, who is a sister-in-law of the Virginia coach, was Debbie Ryan’s first assistant before she later moved on and someone named Geno Auriemma succeeded her.

She had just graduated North Carolina and was interviewing for the job when she first met Ryan’s brother Pat, who was a student in law school at UVA.

Ryan, who guided the Cavaliers to three straight NCAA Final Four appearances (1990-92), talked in the afternoon briefly about the 1991 overtime loss to Tennessee in which a shot by Reiss late in regulation was ruled not to be a three-pointer, factoring in the game being extended.

Broderick was involved with that call in New Orleans.

“I always felt in 1991 I left that group down, but having Patty Broderick here has helped me a lot because she talked about that call and everything.

“Tonya Cardoza was called for a blocking foul but there was no way she could do that because once the ball was released it was in the basket before the whistle blew.

“It stings, but only for them. It doesn’t sting for me. It’s not about me or my career, it’s really about my players and what I felt they deserved and what was right at that time.”

Broderick admitted Friday it was a call that should not have gone against Virginia.

“It was my toughest, lowest moment,” Broderick said. “But a lot of mistakes are made, so you just try to move on and learn from them. You don’t intend for them to happen.”

Alluding to the controversial ending of the Rutgers-Tennessee game here in February in which the clock froze for 1.13 seconds allowing the Vols to get to the line with the winning free throws, Broderick, who was not on that crew, said, “That’s part of the game. You’re going to have bad calls, whether it’s basketball, football, or tennis. It doesn’t matter – baseball. If you ref more than 30 years – hey, I have more than one. But you know what, I have a lot of great calls, too. You’re only as good as your last call.”

Ryan’s ongoing success off the court has been her battle against pancreatic cancer, which was diagnosed in August 2000.

“I’m glad to be here, frankly, I’m glad to be anywhere,” Ryan said. “Being able to attend here is just an incredible thing for me. You don’t ever win that game because it’s not really something that you talk about. It’s more about being able to stay healthy and cancer-free is a blessing for me.”

Ryan will be introduced by former player Val Ackerman, who went on to become the WNBA’s first president and is now the first female president of USA Basketball.

Broderick couldn’t believe it when she was told of her honor a year ago.

“I never thought it would happen in a million years. But to follow in the footsteps of my two mentors (past inductees Marcy Weston and Darlene May), it means a lot. I’m a student and I’m proud of my coaches.”

Broderick will be introduced by veteran officials Sally Bell and June Corteau.

Judging by the large number of Broderick’s colleagues who were hanging out in the hotel lobby Friday night, it was surprising that the WNBA schedule had not gone dark for lack of referees.

Asked her best moment, Broderick said, “I’ve been involved in so many of them – collegiate moments, WNBA, Olympic moments (1988), my first CYO championship game. That probably is one of the biggest highlights I’ve ever had and to be in the hall of fame is just icing on the cake.

“Nothing I’ve ever, ever imagined. When I got the call, I was speechless. Like, no way. It was so emotional that I just was overwhelmed.”

Broderick during the night session told a story about the nightmare travels she experienced trying to get through an ice storm to work a Rutgers-Tennessee game in Piscataway, N.J.

Ironically, the Guru because of the same storm was heading up to cover the event and when he called the Scarlet Knights to say he was running late, he had been told, “Don’t worry, one of the referees is having trouble getting here.”

Why does the Guru remember that moment? Because Rutgers won the game, making it the first time in regular season that an unranked team had upset a No. 1 team.

Back to Friday’s activities, Laursen invoked a few laughs during the afternoon media session at one of the displays in which wax figures depict players in a timeout huddle. One of the buttons allows visitors to the exhibit to hear a recording of Villanova coach Harry Perretta.

Looking at the figurines as she moved to pretend to be coaching them, Laursen observed, “They look a little depressed. Come on. So what if you are down by 50 (points). And no turnovers.”

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. _ Roughly on the first anniversary of the Guru's induction as part of the class of 2007 to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the public revelation that the fabled Tennessee-Connecticut rivalry had ended in divorce, the Guru is back on the scene in a dual role, including media coverage, for ceremonies Friday and Saturday night for the next class.

The event will be somewhat different than in recent years. The Friday night festivities with the ball presentations will now be a private affair for inductees, their friends and families, and existing members. Thus, the Guru has an invite any way.

Departing from recent years there, will be no storytelling session afterwards in the Urban Playground on the Hall's ground floor.

The morning breakfast has been dispensed allowing inductees more time to send with friends and family.

The reception and auction Saturday night will be at the Hall and then attendees will be shuttled to the Bijou Theatre located down the street from the Tennessee Theatre, the site of previous inductions.

ESPN broadcasters Debbie Antonelli and Beth Mowins will be the emcees, but, unlike their winter role with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the electronic duo will not be podcasting.

Since the Guru's arrival late Wednesday afternoon, he headed for the traditional Calhouns' barbecue place with local scribe Dan Flesser, this year's winner of the WBCA media award, and Willbill, our photo ace of a year ago who will be providing some coverage to the blog as well as to the schools of several inductees and to Women's Basketball magazine.

The Guru will have a story for Saturday print sections off Friday's media interviews and will then extend coverage in this space throughout the weekend.

Fleser and the Guru enjoyed Thursday night dinner at Littons, the famed hamburger place that was featured the night of our arrival a year ago.

Saturday's ceremonies, as part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the WBHOF, will begin with a parade of inductees by class, meaning the Guru and newly-hired Tennessee assistant Daedra Charles-Furlow will be at the end of the line representing the Class of 2007.

The Guru was able to observe the Hall's updated retrospective film that now includes events that have occurred from the start of the current decade. In what was a quick one-second clip or so, the Guru noticed new Inquirer sports colleague Kate Fagan, in her Colorado uniform,fire a pass to the post.

You can see much more action in a few weeks when, on nights she isn't performing journalism, Ms. Fagan will be playing at Northeast High on Mondays and Wednesdays in the Dept. of Recreation's NCAA Women;'s Summer League. Incidentally, this be the last season the league will be administered by commissioner David Kessler, before he moves on to other venues.

Meanwhile, for those of you looking for other news that has been occurring over the last month:

As noted several days ago, the Temple search remains quiet until next week.

The Guru has heard in the last few hours, but not absolutely confirmed, that former George Washington star and assistant Lisa Cermingnano, now a Vanderbilt aide, is on the interview list for the vacancy created when Joe McKeown moved to Northwestern on Monday.

As a former managing editor of The Inquirer news room used to conclude in her memos to the staff:

More to come.

-- Mel

By Jonathan Tannenwald
Philly.com

With Mel heading to Knoxville, I thought I'd drop by here for a moment and post this story that the AP just moved on the Elena Delle Donne saga. Most of it has already been reported, but it seems that the characterization of her departure as "a long break" might not be what we've heard before.

Top recruit Delle Donne taking break from UConn

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut basketball recruit Elena Delle Donne, the national high school player of the year, left summer school and returned home to Delaware.

Delle Donne told ESPN on Wednesday that her problems go beyond basketball, and she will take a long break. She denied reports she left campus after an on-court dispute with other UConn players.

After only two days at UConn, she returned to Wilmington, Del., last week.

It's not clear whether Delle Donne will return to campus. A message seeking comment was left at her home Thursday.

UConn spokesman Mike Enright said the school had no comment because the issue is a personal one between Delle Donne, her family and Huskies coach Geno Auriemma.

That ESPN story can be found by clicking here, and it seems Delle Donne told ESPN.com's Mark Schwarz that the reasons for her her departure are "so much deeper than basketball."

Furthermore:

Delle Donne on Wednesday adamantly denied harsh words were exchanged during an open-court session last week with other Huskies players.

"These are the most supportive teammates I've ever encountered," Delle Donne said. "They are such great people. I want to protect UConn because they've been so great to me."

Delle Donne's father, Ernie, echoed his daughter's remarks, saying, "I can only imagine those rumors came from somebody with an axe to grind or someone who is jealous of Elena's status in the women's game. Nothing could be further from the truth. Quite the contrary. Elena told me how ecstatic she was to play with those girls."

Interesting quotes there from Mr. Delle Donne. I'll leave it to Mel to provide further interpretation.

By Mel Greenberg

The Guru is in transit Wednesday to Knoxville across the afternoon hours to be on the scene for the 10th anniversary celebration and new inductions at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and in three days, the Guru himself will transition from current to past inductee.

Hard to believe it has been a year.

Virginia coach Debbie Ryan's delegation is expected to include past stars Dawn Staley, Kathy McConnell Miller, who will also be on the scene for her sister's honor -- former Penn State star Suzie McConnell-Serio, and Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, a former assistant with the Cavaliers; New Atlantic Ten commissioner Bernadette McGlade will also be among the crowd, saluting Ryan as the outgoing women's director of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and saluting McConnell-Serio, who has finished her first year coaching Duquesne in the Atlantic Ten.

Trenton Regional Tickets on Sale

Just north of the Guru's home, 30 milies away in Trenton, N.J., on Tuesday, tickets went on sale for the 2009 NCAA Trenton regional that will send someone directly to St. Louis as part of the next Women's Final Four.

Here is the information that was emailed to Guru central earlier in the day and the Guru apologizes to his friends for missing the occasion but the, ahem, events of the weekend finally sapped the Guru's energy levels for a bit.

Ticket applications are now available for the Trenton Regional of the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship at the Sovereign Bank Arena.

All-session tickets are priced at $52.00 for adults and $47.00 for senior citizens. Group rates for youth groups are also available. The tickets are good for both games on Sunday, March 29 and the regional final on Tuesday, March 31. The general public can obtain the ticket application by stopping at the Sovereign Bank Arena box office or logging onto www.sovereignbankarena.com.

Rider, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference if which Rider is a member, and the Mercer County Sports and Entertainment Commission are co-sponsors.

Wishful Thinking

The Guru noticed his friends on the Rutgers message board doing a little wishful thinking with the news that top-recruit Elena Delle Donne went back to her Wilmington area home in Delaware two days after starting summer school.

While the Scarlet Knights crowd was trying to understand the NCAA transfer rule in case the star swing player was gone for good, it couldn't happen at all because of Big East regulations.

Because Villanova, also in the Big East, had been a finalist in the Delle Donne sweepstakes, the Guru put in an inquiry on the very topic in case the Wildcats could be a destination.

The Big East responded, saying: "Once the letter of intent is signed, student-athletes are not allowed to transfer within the conference."

Ok, the Guru, who will be staying at the Knoxville Marriott, will check in with the news of Wednesday after getting situated.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - A month ago it was hard to believe that former Temple coach Dawn Staley could leave her native Philadelphia for a destination that was not Virginia, her alma mater.

Now it is equally difficult for many to concieve that George Washington's Joe McKeown has departed after 19 seasons from a program that owned the Atlantic Ten, when Staley's Owls or Kevin McGuff's Xavier bunch didn't intrude, to an outfit that seems to reach new lows in Big Ten competition.

But on Monday it became real when Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips presented new Wildcats coach McKeown with a purple uniform jersey bearing his name across its back.

The Philly guy has done it, folks, traded in a less-than-three hour drive from the nation's capital to his native town of cheestesteaks and softball pretzels for Chicago-style pizza.

"It was a huge decision, but the I believe it is the right decision to make," McKeown said during his introductory press conference available for viewing on the internet.

The 52-year-old McKeown, who will get to renew his former annual rivalry with Jim Foster when the Ohio State coach was at St. Joseph's in the A-10, said he was impressed with the campus on his interview visit, calling it a special place.

Phillips said McKeown quickly rose to the top from a list of 42 coaches the search committee targeted from the different NCAA divisions as well as the WNBA.

A former member of the NCAA women's basketball committee last season, who had to give up his spot after leaving Northern Illinois for Northwestern, Phillips said the Wildcats were looking for a "great teacher -- academically and athletically, a national recruiter, an experienced head coach, and someone who was a great fit."

McKeown, at 52 is no Olympic athlete, as his hobbling around on crutches a year ago after an injury conducting practice will illustrate. However, he easily racked up four gold medals in each of the categories Phillips mentioned.

So instead of talking about selling hot dogs at Phillies games years ago in old Connie Mack Stadium, McKeown will now be referencing Bears, Cubs, and White Sox in his lingo.

"We're going to take care of him and teach him right," said DePaul coach Doug Bruno last weekend when it was apparent McKeown was heading to the suburbs of the Windy City.

Back in the nation's capital and in the A-10, McKeown will be missed. He was always one of the first with a phone call of congratulations for a joyous occasion and equally at the head of the line with a call of support to someone going through a difficult time.

Yet, in these days of modern technology, one is never really as far away as the geographical miles might indicate.

Joyous as it was on the Northwestern campus, Monday, it was a day of mourning for the George Washington fan base and media who McKeown made part of the Colonials family.

School officials, however, were gracious with statements in a press release in announcing McKeown's departure.

“We are grateful to Joe McKeown for 19 extraordinary years at the helm of our women’s basketball program,” said GW President Steven Knapp. “His dedication to the academic as well as athletic success of his players is legendary, and no one has done more to build the national athletic reputation of the George Washington University. He will be deeply missed, and we wish him all the best, both personally and professionally.”

“Joe has set a remarkable standard for coaching at GW as evidenced by his 509 career wins, four Atlantic 10 Championships, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, three Sweet 16’s and the Elite Eight in 1997,” said GW Senior Vice President for Student and Academic Support Services Robert A. Chernak. “I wish him nothing but the most success at Northwestern.”

Added athletic director Jack Kvancz: “Coach McKeown has done an outstanding job with our women’s basketball program. We were fortunate to have young women representing GW who are true student-athletes. The 19 years he spent at GW were great. He also has become a friend, and I wish Joe and his family nothing but the best.”

So now the two Atlantic Ten powerhouses at Temple and George Washington may be in a bit of an arms race to make sure each has the proper field general to keep the Owls and Colonials at the top of the conference races.

However, it is doubtful that both will have duplicate names on their search lists.

George Washington, as a private school, is able to move quicker than Temple, who won't be producing any news this week. Athletic director Bill Bradshaw is out of town in Dallas at an annual convention of his peers.

But a person familiar with the search said the pace will accelerate next week when candidates are brought in for interviews and a decision should be reached soon afterwards.

Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza has not visited Temple yet, but remains high on the list of candidates. Her good friend on the Huskies staff Jamelle Elliott was perhaps the runnerup in the Northwestern hunt and likely to be an early contact by the Colonials, given that Washington is her home.

South Jersey's Lisa Cermingnano, a former George Washington star and assistant coach now at Vanderbilt, will also become involved, if it hasn't happened yet.

"I know them all, many are my friends, I grew up with them," Cermingnano said of a shot at succeeding McKeown. "But they have to be fair in their search to everyone and I don't expect any special considerations."

Kvancz may want to consider Rutgers assistant Carlene Mitchell on his short list, although with C. Vivian Stringer already besieged with applicants looking to succeed former assistant Marianne Stanley, she's already setting a record for headache medicine in the off-season and the last thing she wants is to have to fill two vacancies.

There's also been a suggestion of former GW assistant Margaret McKeon, who has coached Boston U and last season took over a New Jersey Institute Tech program that is transitioning to Division I.

"She already knows that place (GW) as well as anyone," said a colleague of hers.

But so does Cermingnano, so that could be an interesting decision.

Back at Temple there's some interest in Holy Family's Mike McLaughlin, who has made the Tigers a Division II power. His record of wins has been a strong point even if he is at the Division II level.

It is publicly unknown if any WNBA coaches have had surrogates make inquries at Temple, given that they all are under contract and loathe to have their names tossed around.

But there has been some lobbying on behalf of New York Liberty Patty Coyle, given her Philadelphia roots, her experience coaching today's younger generation as they arrive in the pros, and her past success at the college level -- she also was a star guard at Rutgers. But her comments to date seem to indicate she's satisfied keeping the Liberty progressing from where they left off last summer as a playoff participant.

Her name is likely to be put forward to George Washington, also, given her past coaching of Loyola of Maryland.out of nearby Baltimore to several Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles.

Coyle said last week she had not contacted Temple, nor was she offered the job and turned it down, as had been suggested on the summer rumor circuit.

In other news before daylight cracks through the windows of the home office and the Guru scurries home like a vampire, there is nothing new at this hour on Elena Delle Donne's quick return to Wilmington, Delaware after two days at summer at UConn. However, our friend, the Hartford Courant's John Altavilla, has a thoughtful piece on the situation on his blog.

Also, the Guru noticed that someone on the Penn State message board claimed early in the Guru's reporting of McKeown's likely move, that the Guru had him linked to the Nittany Lions vacancy a year ago and it didn't happen.

Well, yeah, he was involved, briefly, but the Guru never said he was the top candidate for the job, and by the time the Guru mentioned it, McKeown was no longer involved in discussions.

The Guru also mentions Penn State as a transition to inform that former coach Rene Portland, who starred at Immaculata, is on the ballot for the next class of inductees to the Philadelphis Sports Hall of Fame.

Former Illinois-Rutgers coach Theresa Grentz, a teammate of Portland's on the Mighty Macs, was among last year's group of inductees.

-- Mel

(Updating with additional info late sunday to add to earlier updates, including comment from from GW athletic director)

By Mel Greenberg

Now the Atlantic Ten is minus two high profile coaches.

George Washington's Joe McKeown and Northwestern reached agreement late Saturday for the Father Judge graduate to become the Wildcats' new coach, a source familiar with the hire said.

Northwestern officials plan to upgrade the women's basketball program, such as has been done for the NCAA champion women's lacrosse team, the source added.

George Washington athletic director Jack Kvancz later confirmed McKeown's move Sunday night.

"He did a great job here, let's not forget that," Kvancz said. "But you have to do what you have to do. I'm starting the first thing tomorrow (to look for McKeown's successor)."

McKeown was unavailable for comment but the Chicago Sun-Times was ready to report the Father Judge graduate, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, had signed the papers Sunday and was heading from his Washington-area home to a press conference at the Chicago-area university to be held Monday at 1 p.m., local time.

Former Colonials star Cathy Joens, who plays for the WNBA Chicago Sky, was planning to attend Northwestern's introduction of McKeown.

A knowledgeable source said McKeown's cell phone and home phone had been innundated the last several days from George Washington boosters urging him to remain with the Colonials.

He was originally scheduled to be at Colorado Springs as an assistant coach to Northern Illinois' Carol Owens for the USA Basketball Under 18 team tryouts.

Earlier Sunday, a source familiar with McKeown's schedule in Colorado Springs said he would be arriving late because of his change in jobs.

McKeown's exit after 19 seasons with the Colonials follows less than a month the departure of Temple's Dawn Staley for South Carolina, leaving only Xavier's Kevin McGuff among the team's that have recently contended for the Atlantic Ten title at the top of the conference.

Charlotte's Karen Aston arrived last season after having been an assistant at Baylor and Texas in the Big 12.

It also means the annual major rivalry in the A-10 between GWU and Temple will have two newcomers. The Owls are still working on their search, while the Colonials could quickly get to Connecticut assistant Jamelle Elliott, Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano, or current GW assistant Mike Bozeman at the top of their lists.

Former Princeton coach Rich Barron, who moved to Baylor last season as an assistant to Kim Mulkey and has helped produce a top recruiting class, could also be a person of interest to GW once the search is under way.

Northwestern had to pay McKeown quite a fee to top George Washington's recently extended deal through 2014, which Kvancz told the school paper Friday was "above the industry standard."

A source estimated the package in the nation's capital to be at $400,000, which could have creedence in that Staley was making $500,000 at Temple last season, the first of a new extended deal.

The McKeown departure means St. Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley, with eight years of experience in the conference as a head coach, becomes the new dean, while St. Joseph's Cindy Griffin, with seven years, is the assistant dean.

Immediate family considerations were also said to be a major factor for the decision by the likeable McKeown, who still has relatives in his native Philadelphia.

Northwestern finished in the basement of the Big Ten last season, so McKeown will find himself rebuilding a Wildcats squad to challenge the likes of Ohio State, coached by another Philadelphia native in Jim Foster.

When McKeown left New Mexico State to make George Washington a nationally-recognized program, Foster helped him land the position and it wasn't long before the Colonials were challenging Foster's team at St. Joseph's, Theresa Grentz's team at Rutgers, and Rene Portland's team at Penn State.

Several years ago, McKeown was briefly considered for the vacant men's position at George Washington.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ What started as a buzz on the internet late Friday night became reality Saturday when Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma confirmed in an email to the Hartford Courant that mega-freshman star Ellena Delle Donne of Ursuline Academy in Wilmington had abruptly left summer school in Storrs to go back home.

Several local sources in AAU competition here, where Delle Donne has played, confirmed her exist after a week on campus in Storrs, although none could elaborate a specific reason.

The Guru has a print story that basically credits our professional colleague's work in Hartford at the Courant.

Auriemma cited Delle Donne's return to the Wilmington area as something that happens all the time with new collegiate students.

Some whispers here say she may have gotten caught up quickly in the academics and the intense offseason drills led by the veteran Huskies in pickup games.

A year ago, Delle Donne took what became a month off last summer before announcing Connecticut as her choice over Tennessee and Villanova.

This could only be a short-term thing. But if Wildcats fans are hoping for the extreme result, it is not known whether a transfer to Villanova near home would be possible because of transfer rules involving sister Big East schools.

It was unclear Saturday night what the Big East specifics where and no one was available to make a credible description. Villanova coach Harry Perretta was not available. Some of the buzz was that a transfer would have to sit out two years, while in another corner it was said transfers were not allowed at all, but the commissioner might condone a move judging any of them on a case by case basis.

Meanwhile, nothing new out of George Washington's reported move to the Northwestern job, but the Washington chatter indicates the departure of the Father Judge graduate is likely to happen after 19 seasons with the Colonials.

A call was placed to Colorado Springs, but not yet returned as of late Saturday night in the East, whether McKeown had to delay his arrival to USA Basketball headquarters on Monday for trials in his rule as an assistant coach on the Under-18 squad.

Incidentally, some of our Chicago friends were hoping for a quick resolution so they might snare McKeown's older, talented daughter for AAU competition.

As for Temple, nothing additional at the moment but the Guru will be on the case Sunday to determine what needs to be handled from afar later in the week in Knoxville while attending Women's Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

Incidentally, those of you who like to keep an updated bio of the Guru's life can note that as of Friday when food writer Marilynn Mater retired, the Guru became No. 1 on the newsroom writing seniority list and No. 4 overall when two editorial assistants and a library staffer are factored in.

If the news changes before sunrise, the Guru will return.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA - The sun went down Friday night and, apparently looking out the window, is coming up again Saturday morning without an announced deal between George Washington coach Joe McKeown.a graduate of Father Judge, and Northwestern University to fill the vacancy created by last month's departure of Beth Combs soon after the arrival of new athletic director Jim Phillips.

But both sides were apparently on a course heading in a direction of creating a new union.

Some nice reporting late Friday afternoon by the George Washington school paper The Hatchet, not to be confused with the nickname of a former copy editor here in the home office, quoted Colonials athletic director Jack Kvancz acknowedging basically everything that hit the Guru's eardrums beginning late Thursday.

Numerous coaches from across the nation noted to the Guru in the last 24 hours that McKeown had mentioned the Norrthwestern situation to them recently at an annual Nike event.

A source here in the City of Brotherly Love familiar with athletic officials in Chicago characterized the situation late Friday, observing, that if McKeown had the offer and was turing it down, he would seem to want that information conveyed rather quickly.

Or, he might want that same information conveyed as a mask for the fact that someone else had been offered the job.

But being none of that had occurred, it meant he had the job and was going to take it if both sides could come to an agreement.

A colleague of the Guru's who is a veteran women's writer in Chicago said the three names he had heard recently from Northwestern officials were McKeown, Connecticut longtime assistant Jamelle Elliott, and former Boston College coach Cathy Inglese. The Guru also heard from elsewhere the mention of Bowling Green's Curt Miller.

The Guru's Chicago friend noted late Friday, when no news had occurred, that Northwestern might be holding off any announcement because of other competing news events, such as the coaching situation involving the NBA's Chicago Bulls.

"They'd get a bigger splash here early next week," he said.

McKeown is slated to head to trials at Colorado Springs next week as an assistant coach on USA Basketball's Under-18 team, which will be headed by Northern Illinois' Carol Owens.

Judging by the statistic report the Guru accesses at a moment's notice on traffic at this blog site, McKeown is quite a popular guy.

In a result similar to some narrow triumphs in the Atlantic Ten against former Temple coach Dawn Staley, news of McKeown's departure in the previous post set a site record barely edged the initial reporting of Staley's imment departure to South Carolina.

McKeown drew 1,140 page views, topping the previous Guru site record 1,125 set by the Staley exit. Traffic has remained on a continues average record high since then -- nothing new at the moment for those of you interested in the Temple search but Connecticut assistant Tonya Cardoza informed the Guru last week she would let him know that an interview had occurred.

The only other 1,000 plus number occurred in the controversy surrounding NCAA selection Monday when Big East rivals Rutgers and Connecticut were put on a collision course in the bracket.

Traffic had been previously running high from reporting of the Guru's involvement in the mock bracket exercise at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis in February and the "frozen clock" incident in Knoxville several days later that saw Tennessee edge Rutgers at the finish, depriving the Scarlet Knights of making history upsetting two No. 1 teams back-to-back.

We still haven't heard if referee Patty Broderick is being allowed an extra 1.13 seconds in Knoxville next weekend for her acceptance speech at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductions.

The Guru, incidentally, informed Temple officials that if any deal is reached with a candidate late next week, he could report that from afar but would be unable to attend any press conference until next Monday at the earliest due to his visit to Knoxville for his own transfer from his year-long current inductee status to the immediate past tense.

And they used think that former columnist Stephen A had influence around here.

The Guru will provide coverage here of the event with photographic postings.

But back to the Guru site report, the McKeown number here is more impressive because the interest in Staley was created by the combination of Temple as a local school and the legendary former point guard.

It was also driven by links from the philly.com home page, which Jonathan reported to have received just under 5,000 views, while the McKeown total was fueled from interest at all the major women's basketball sites and message boards without guidance from the philly.com page (Jonathan might jump in when he reads this and interpret what the Guru is saying based on his Philly.com operational talent).

However, a significant chunk of the total, which could be exceeded on Saturday, comes from Guru fans in Connecticut because of the involvement of members of the Huskies staff and also from our colleagues in the horde who have had some recent difficulty communicating with the same individuals.

Elliott was going to attend the Connecticut Sun WNBA contest against Minnesota Friday night so perhaps she was pounced upon at a first sighting by the Sun beat writers, many of whom are also the Huskies beat writers.

The Guru site record was also aided by the continuing readership from the Rutgers message board, and, of course, there has been recent viewings from the Temple fan board because of the search for Staley's successor.

McKeown's departure would make the Atlantic Ten coaching ranks quite younger and when St. Joseph's Cindy Griffin was informed that she would become the assistant dean, one year short of St. Bonaventure's Jim Crowley's eight-year reign, she noted, "I guess that means I must be getting old."

Griffin is also getting ready to become a parent again with a third child to join her other daughters.

Incidentally, Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano, a former George Washington star and assistant who hails from South Jersey, said she would be interested in either position at Temple or her alma mater, assuming a Colonials vacancy, if contacted.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she said Friday. "I told our people I love it here (in Nashville), but the opportunity to coach at either Temple or George Washington means going home to friends and family. I certainly have the experience and background to competei in the Atlantic Ten."

Some have mentioned George Washington assistant Mike Bozeman, but McKeown, in the same dynamic as the Guru recently referenced Staley, might not have much influence naming a successor due to the nature of his departure, a situation common throughout athletics.

In fact, perhaps that is why McKeown was lobbying the Guru Sunday night on Bozeman's behalf. (The Guru noted that the last time he looked at his pay check, it was still coming from here and not for being the athletic director at Temple, a postion held by the Guru's longtime friend Bill Bradshaw back from the day's when the Guru would chase foul balls while working the gate as a student at Temple baseball games. Several of those were hit by Bradshaw, then a member of La Salle's squad.)

Related to all that, the Guru heard from from former Penn State backcourt star Tina Nicholson, a native of nearby Downingtown, who would like to get into coaching as an assistant.

The Guru will be doing a catch-up interview this weekend with Nicholson, who played for the former Cleveland Rockers during the inaugural season of the WNBA in 1997.

Meanwhile, the Guru has heard that former Rutgers star Sue Wicks, who had been an assistant at her alma mater under C. Vivian Stringer and is now a top aide at St. Francis, N.Y., could be in the sights of Long Island officials trying to fill the vacancy created when Stephanie V. Gaitley left last month for a similar job at Monmouth in the same Northeast Conference.

The Blackbirds may also have some interest with an individual involved in the WNBA currently under contract with one of the 14 teams across the country.

And as daylight approaches, it is time for the Guru to continue his vampire existence by heading home, but we'll be on the case at the first incoming phone call.

-- Mel

(Updating at 5:30 p.m. EDT with McKeown holding an offer)

By Mel Greenberg

In a week that saw Bernadette McGlade become the new commissioner of the Atlantic Ten Conference, the league may be about to lose another high-profile coach.

Several sources late Thursday from around the country told the Guru that George Washington coach Joe McKeown, a Father Judge graduate, was near the Windy City in Evanston, Ill., making a second visit, perhaps to sign off on leaving the nation's capital for the Chicago area. He would be joining a Wildcats program that finished last in the Big Ten Conference at 1-17 in the league and 5-26 overall prior to Beth Combs' resignation on May 7.

(Update) A knowledgeable source said late Friday afternoon that McKeown had been made an offerand perhaps both sides were working on fine points. Family considerations are as much involved as the basketball aspect.

If his potential exist is true, McKeown would follow the departure of former Temple coach Dawn Staley for South Carolina, which would leave the Atlantic Ten with only Xavier's Kevin McGuff remaining among teams that have been perennial championship contenders the last several seasons.

In fact, the new dean of Atlantic Ten coaches would be St. Bonaventure's Jim Crowley, who has been with the Bonnies eight seasons, and also four previously as an assistant. He would be followed, believe or not, by St. Joseph's Cindy Griffin, who just completed her seventh season..

Ironically, Griffin's husband Curtis and McKeown were recently part of the winning team at a golf tournament in Florida during the Atlantic Ten spring meetings.

Incidentally, Staley and McKeown had both signed long contract extensions prior to last season.

Back to coaching longevity in the Atlantic Ten, La Salle's Tom Lochner just completed his fourth season with the Explorers, but has been at the school 21 seasons counting his previous duties as an assistant to former coach John Miller.

A call early Thursday night to McKeown's cell phone was not returned, which is not unusual when McKeown, as well as other coaches, may be involved in some activity.

But considering the nature of cryptic message the Guru left for McKeown -- we go way back as Philly guys -- he might have been quick to shoot down the allusion, if not true, as he has in past situations when his name has been thrown around when coaching vacancies have occurred.

(Update) A tell-tale indication as of 5:30 p.m. Friday afternoon is the Guru has not received any communication since the original pre-sunrise post of McKeown's potential move denying negotiations were under way.

McvKeown does have family in Philadelphia who have been known to visit this site and the Guru has not received any comment from their direction. (end update)

The Guru and McKeown last talked on Sunday night when McKeown was touting the virtues of his assistant coach Mike Bozeman for the Temple job, noting Bozeman's ability to recruiting along the Atlantic seaboard. The Northwestern job was not part of the conversation.

Connecticut assistant Jamelle Elliott, herself a candidate for Northwestern, said earlier Thursday she had heard McKeown's name as a potential aspirant.

Should McKeown be heading to the Midwest, Elliott, a native of Washington, would become a prime candidate to take over the Colonials, who were 27-7 after losing to Rutgers in the NCAA Sweet 16.

While expressing interest in that potential, Elliott noted that she had learned to not get excited, considering she never got to the interview stage at George Mason in Fairfax, Va., just outside Washington.

Added to the current Temple search, consider this potential scenario next season: Instead of McKeown and Staley directing teams against each other in one of the Atlantic Ten's top rivalries, the matchup could see two of Geno Auriemma's longtime assistants in their place if Tonya Cardoza lands the Temple job.

There was no word late Thursday if Cardoza had yet interviewed, although sources in Connecticut and Philadelphia expected an initial meeting to occur by Friday.

An aside: Some conspiracy theorists have jokingly said Tennessee's Pat Summitt might be involved in triggering all these movements as a way to disrput Auriemma's staff for next season, along with disrupting Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer's staff after the departure of assistant Marianne Stanley to become assistant coach with the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.

Rutgers should be favored over Tennessee when the two meet in Piscataway, N.J., while Connecticut is an overwhelming favorite to end the Vols' two-year claim to the NCAA title.

The Temple search process may stall again because athletic director Bill Bradshaw will be out of town for part of next week attending the annual convention for collegiate athletic directors.

Another name who has recenty been injected in the Temple picture is Wake Forest associate head coach Natasha Adair, who had also been previously at Georgetown.

McKeown, who turned 52 last month, has won 509 games and has been at George Washington for 19 seasons after a stint at New Mexico State.

He also would follow some other native Philadelphia area persons who have coached at Northwestern: Former Rutgers star June Olkowski and Mary Distanislao, who is currently an athletic department official at the University of Pennsylvania.

While Connecticut's Elliott would seem a strong candidate to replace McKeown, she would not be the only viable candidate. Vanderbilt assistant Lisa Cermingnano, a native of South Jersey, is a former GW assistant at her alma mater, where she is in the school's hall of fame.

She is also responsible for helping recruit players who produced two of the top seasons recently in the McKeown era. Detroit Shock assistant Cheryl Reeve, another South Jersey native, was a past assistant of McKeown.

Stay tuned. Updated news could overtake this report by the time you are reading this since the Guru is signing off this report at 3:30 a.m. in the East.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

In most cases, you usually see the end result here and other places of what can be written after a process that, at times, includes other persons whose names are not necessarily part of the news but are enormous help in making it conveyed to the public.

Such is Stacey Brann, who in the fall of 2006 stepped into what became the most momentous season in the Rutgers women's basketball team's history, becoming the Scarlet Knights' spokeswoman for the program.

In the front part of the season, writers on the beat were already poised to give Brann awards for actually reducing the gap time between end-of-game and coach C. Vivian Stringer's appearance in the media room for the postgame press conference -- and that was after wins.

Added to that was the speed in which printed postgame quotes from Stringer's comments were produced -- usually a challenge for both SID interns helping their boss with the transcription as well as those of us trying to get them exactly right from our tape recorders.

The Guru mentions this in passing because as is known by now, Rutgers bolted from a dismal start to the NCAA title game followed immediately by the Imus controversy.

Behind the scenes in all this directing traffic was Brann handling the crush of media interest in both situations and helping set the stage for the famous press conference in which coach and team gave their reactions to the Imus situation.

(If you don't know exactly what the Imus situation was, either go to google or you shouldn't be reading this anyway.)

Well, Wednesday night Brann finally got her reward for her efforts and what follows is the Rutgers press release of the honor to which we add that the Guru hopes AD Bob added some change to her paycheck.

Here's the announcement, which solved the mystery question hours earlier before the email arrival when the Guru, in reading the blog statistic report of the moment, was trying to figure out who in the Rutgers sports information dept. (gotcha Hassim) had accessed the site using the search terms "Brann" and "bio."

Rutgers’ Brann Honored As New Jersey’s Top Public Relations Professional

WEST ORANGE, N.J. (June 4, 2008) – Rutgers Associate Director of Athletic Communications Stacey Brann was recognized as the 2008 Public Relations “Professional of the Year” by the New Jersey Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Brann was honored for her outstanding work with the Rutgers women’s basketball team during the controversy ignited by insensitive remarks made by national radio host Don Imus.

The organization’s Pyramid Awards annually recognize excellence in public relations and communications. Brann received the award at the organization’s 18th annual awards banquet on Wednesday, June 4, at Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange.

“I am extremely honored and very humbled to be recognized by the New Jersey chapter of the PRSA,” Brann said. “Thanks to a collaborate effort with University public relations, Rutgers Athletics was able to manage the Imus situation with grace and the same dignity exhibited by the 10 young women who were unfairly characterized by the comments.”

Brann led Rutgers’ public relations efforts surrounding the Scarlet Knights women’s basketball program amid the firestorm following the team’s appearance in the 2007 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game. She served as the primary spokesperson for the basketball program during the scandal, interacting with local, regional state and national media journalists, including representatives from print, radio, TV and internet outlets, at all hours of the day and night.

During the controversy, Brann helped to coordinate a press conference with head coach C. Vivian Stringer and team members that was televised nationally and allowed the Scarlet Knights the opportunity to express their views. She also managed numerous interviews and media opportunities and requests with the members of the program, while ensuring the team members’ academic obligations would not suffer due to the distraction.

“Stacey is an outstanding public relations professional who rose to the top of her field during a critical 10-day period, when the nation’s eyes were focused on Rutgers University and its women’s basketball program,” said Rutgers Director of Athletics Bob Mulcahy. “I can think of no one who is more deserving of such recognition. Everyone associated with Rutgers Athletics is proud of Stacey and her outstanding efforts.”

Brann joined the Rutgers Athletic Communications office in November of 2006 as the Associate Director of Communications, working primarily with women’s basketball and Coach Stringer. Prior to joining the staff at Rutgers, Brann served as Assistant Director of Athletics in charge of media relations at Long Island University in Brooklyn, N.Y. for three years. She began her career in college athletics at the University of Richmond where she served as the Director of Athletic Communications for four years, working primarily with the men’s basketball team.

Brann, a 1994 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BS in Mass Communications, is a native of Village, Va.

Small World in Big Apple

And so on Tuesday night the Guru was in the media room in Madison Square Garden in New York at halftime of the Liberty-Seattle Storm WNBA game, where a young, tall, blonde woman was having trouble getting her laptop onto the local wifi network.

As the Guru offered advice both of us seemed to notice a familiarity about each other.

"I think I know you," she said, using a line the Guru has heard many times from other young woman on streets near the fabled arena. -- But that's not a story for now.

And the Guru responded, "You look like somebody that used to play for St. Joseph's."

Sure enough, it was former 6-5 Hawks reserve center Zoya Pavlovskaya, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, who graduated after the 2007 season and now is working for a Russian agent who has several WNBA players as clients.

So we had a little conversation that amounted to more time then the Guru has spent talking to her during her career because, well, back then, a bit of a language problem occurred and, also, as a player off the bench late in games that had already been decided, there weren't many reasons to request her presence afterwards.

And with that, the Guru moves on to the hot news of the day on the next post, which you all read before this one considering the way they get assembled.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

NEW YORK _ Two years ago in March 2006, Cappie Pondexter, Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson were a fab backcourt trio trying to lead Rutgers to a national championship.

Three months ago, Carson and Ajavon fell just short of trying to lead the Scarlet Knights back to the Women's Final Four.

Now they are all pros in separate places and on Tuesday night here and in two others cities all three were key contributors to their respective team's victories in the WNBA.

Right here in Madison Square Garden, Carson was given a start by veteran head coach Patty Coyle and the result was a 77-63 upset victory over the Seattle Storm that snapped a two-game losing streak.

"Eseence is a good athlete, good size, she brings a lot of energy," Coyle said of the overall seventh draft pick who grew up across the Hudson River in New Jersey. "I thought she did a good job. She started against (Swin) Cash. I thought her shooting percentage could be a little bit better (2-for-7 in 25 minutes), but she brings a lot of energy.

"She can guard and she can rebound. The offensive part of her game is going to come."

Cash, the former Connecticut star who had played in Detroit, was held to seven points.

New York jumped to a 22-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Storm rallied for a brief lead later on until the Liberty closed out Seattle, 23-15, in the fourth quarter.

Shameka Christon had 25 points to lead the Liberty.

Coyle talked about the Liberty youngster, again focusin on Carson, whom she had scouted throughout her Rutgers career.

"With Essence you get the whole package," said Coyle, who helped lead Rutgers to the AIAW national title in 1982. "She plays hard. She guards. She rebounds. And on the offensive end, we'll get her better, but it's not like she's chopped liver. She's a pretty good player."

Meanwhile nearly at the same time, Ajavon.the fifth overall pick, helped get the Houston Comets into the win column after a 0-5 start by scoring 15 points, including six in the closing minutes in a 75-72 victory over the San Antonio Silver Stars in Houston.

"The fact that Matee plays with no fear and goes for any loose ball makes her special," Comets coach Karleen Thompson said. "She is a rookie but she has the mentality of a veteran, and she feels that she can play with anybody. She has a high level of confidence but at the same time, she plays within the system. She is truly a phenomenal rookie."

Down in Phoenix, the defending WNBA champion Mercury finally made it into the win column, beating the Washington Mystics, 98-93, as Pondexter, newly-named to the Olympic team, backed up Mercury and USA teammate Diana Taurasi's 29 points with 23 of her own.

Of course, last season, Pondexter was the MVP of the playoffs as Phoenix rallied from a 2-1 deficit to finish off the previous champion Detroit Shock on the road, the first time a visiting team left the arena with a WNBA trophy.

Temple Update

Connecticut 14-year assistant Tonya Cardoza will be making a visit sometime this week to be interviewed by Temple for the head coaching position left vacant when Dawn Staley headed off the South Carolina, several sources familiar with the search said.

So what might it be like playing for Staley's former Virginia teammate?

The Seattle Storm's Sue Bird knows and gave a little insight on Tuesday night here prior to the game against the Liberty.

"What all do you want to know?" Bird said with a gleam in her eye as if she was about to tell some tales out of school. "I got all the dirt.

"I was fortunate enough to be able to have the same assistant coaches four years in college, which doesn't happen often -- and one of them was Tonya Cardoza. She was primarily at the time the guards' coach so her and I had a very good relationship.

"She's quiet at times, knows her role and plays it. But behind the scenes, behind Coach (Geno) Auriemma, CD (associate head coach Chris Dailey), she was always the calming effect for me -- someone who I knew always had my back and who always knew how to get the best out of me," Bird continued.

"She was defnitely a key reason why I was able to be so successful in college. She's also a very wonderful person," Bird said.

"It's hard to leave Connecticut -- it's like a well-oiled machine up there, constantly in the Top Five and always in contention, so it's difficult to leave a program like Connecticut but at the same time I think Tonya's been ready for a long time (to be a head coach). It's just about finding the right spot and if Temple turns out to be that spot, they'll be very lucky to have her."

New York's Coyle has been following the developments at Temple since Staley left, but did not say whether she had interest, considering her name has been mentioned as a worthy candidate to the athletic department officials.

Coyle noted that as a native Philadelphian and West Catholic graduate who coached in the Big Five as a St. Joseph's interest she always keeps tabs on the collegiate scene in her native city.

She also has made more than a few trips back home in the offseason attending games in her native city to scout prospects for the next Liberty draft picks.

Atlantic Ten Family Affair.

At Monday's press conference in Philadelphia introducing Bernadette McGlade as the new Atlantic Ten commissioner, her family members outnumbered most of the other groups in the room, including the media.

Making the long ride from Pittsburgh, Panthers women's coach Agnus Berenato, a sister of McGlade, was on the scene with her eldest daughter Theresa Marie.

The two will be doing a book together, Berenato informed.

McGlade, who had been an assistant Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner over women'sw basketball, and Berenato starred at Gloucester Catholic across the river from Philadelphia in Southern New Jersey before moving on to college.

The new commissioner will now be supporting two persons in Knoxville next week when she attends the induction ceremonies for the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

McGlade had planned to attend to support Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, who grew up in New Jersey. Now she'll also be able to be on hand to support Duquense coach and former Penn State star Suzie McConnell-Serio, who says the biggest challenge of her acceptance speech will be to keep her emotions in check.

"I'm keeping it short because I know I'm going to get emotional," McConnell-Serio said.

Former Penn State star Tanisha Wright, who plays for Seattle, didn't interact with McConnell-Serio during her own career with the Nittany Lions, but she certainly was aware of the legendary point guard when she arrived in Happy Valley.

"She was a great player for Penn State and did a lot of great things. She's a Pittsburgh girl so you hear her name around a lot there."

The other four inductees are longtime official and officials supervisor Patty Broderick, former Tennessee star Jill Rankin Schenider, former Australian and WNBA star Michelle Timms, and Central Arizona coach Lin Laursen, who has 971 victories.

Dawn Staley plans to be at the induction of her former Virginia coach as does Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, who was an assistant to Ryan before taking the UConn job back in the day.

Considering Pat Summitt will be there in support of Rankin Schneider, it will be the first time both she and Auriemma will be in the same room since Auriemma's postseason comments in April about the breakup of the former Tennessee-Connecticut series. A few days later, Summitt's complaints to the NCAA about Connecticut recruting tactics were made public.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer, a member of the WBHOF board of directors, is expected to attend, making it her first trip to Knoxville since Rutgers was involved in the controversial loss to the Vols in the closing seconds in February when the clock froze and officials did not follow procedure to check the malfunction.

Actually, considering that Broderick is an inductee near the scene of the crime -- the Guru is wondering whether basketball releatrions director Karen Tucker will allow Broderick an extra 1.13 seconds to finish her speech.

-- Mel

By Mel Greenberg

PHILADELPHIA _ Bernadette McGlade is about to trade the countryside surroundings of the Atlantic Coast Conference office located alongside a golf course in Greensboro, N.C., for one in downtown Philadelphia, the home of the Atlantic Ten Conference of which she is about to intoduced Monday morning as its new commissioner.

Several women's basketball sources in the Guru's world confirmed the hire Sunday while other sources were confirming similar reports to Inquirer and Daily News men's college basketball beat writers. Additionally, the Charlotte Oberserver in North Carolina was also citing sources, according to its web site.

For McGlade, who is from nearby Gloucester City across the Delaware in New Jersey, it will be a homecoming to stay.

In 2000, she was in town as the head of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament committee when the Women's Final Four was held at the Wachovia Center.

McGlade's sister, Agnus Berenato, is currently the head coach of Pittsburgh, which has undergone a revival since her move from Georgia Tech several years ago.

McGlade was also a women's basketball coach of the Yellow Jackets before moving into administration. She is currently an associate commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, overseeing the league's high-powered women's basketball operation.

Linda Bruno, who had been commissioner for 13 seasons, came from a similar background at the Big East and was also a chair of the NCAA women's tournament committee.

McGlade, who played basketball at North Carolina with one of the Tar Heels' first athletic scholarships for women, is also supervisor of women's basketball officials over the ACC, as well as those in the Colonial Athletic Association, Big South and Southern Conferences.

She also served on NCAA-TV negotiating committee that landed a $6.2 billion deal from CBS and ESPN, considered the largest TV deal for any sporting event.

The men's writers at the two papers will be all over this story tomorrow but since the Guru has known McGlade personally from way back to her Georgia Tech days, which is why he was notified of the hire Sunday, the Guru decided to add to the growing list of reports to make your current blog visit worthwhile.

More Temple Names

The Guru knows why you're really here, based on the traffic that's been flowing since the Temple vacancy occurred when Dawn Staley left for South Carolina, here are some more potential candidates that have been mentioned to the Guru's ears.

None of the following have spoken personally to the Guru, but he has been made of aware of their support, whether or not they are actually interested in the position, from persons who may have been making calls to the search committee.

The group includes Pittsburgh assistant Shea Ralph, a former Connecticut star who would be the second person with Huskies DNA involved with Temple. The other is current longtime assistant Tonya Cardoza, considered high on the list and likely to get an interview.

Maryland assistant Erica Floyd has also been mentioned as has George Washington assistant Mike Bozeman. Floyd is a 13-year veteran in the profession who graduated from Ohio State in 1993 after starring for the Buckeyes.

Also, the Guru directs your attention elsewhere on Philly.com to the Sunday print story in sports in which new hire Kate Fagan, who starred at Colorado, went to Washington Saturday to the Mystics' WNBA game against Los Angeles to do a feature on Willingboro's Crystal Langhorne, the former Maryland all-American who was a first-round pick in April.

The Guru noticed an increase in google action in this direction since the mention of Kate's arrival several week's ago. That traffic means the Guru may have to cover her performance in the summer league, which starts in a few weeks, unless she can figure out how to write and play point guard at the same time -- a skill quite diffrerent than walking and chewing gun.

-- Mel